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The vibes are high right now for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and it's certainly no secret that new head coach Dan Muse is getting the most out of his 9-4-3 team - which is tied for third in the Eastern Conference and fourth in the league.

But the same cannot be said for the Penguins' former head coach with his new team. 

The New York Rangers and their new bench boss Mike Sullivan - who was at the helm for the Penguins from 2015-2025 - have struggled out of the gate this season. The Rangers sit at 7-7-2 with 16 points, which ranks sixth in the Metropolitan Division and sixth in the Eastern Conference. 

The Rangers have also scored a league-worst 35 goals, they have yet to win a game on home ice (0-6-1), and their top producer is defenseman Adam Fox, who has three goals and 11 points in 16 games. Their only forward with double-digit points is Artemi Panarin with 10, and no one else on their roster is at more than a half point-per-game. 

Suffice to say, they lack scoring depth and are struggling mightily to put the puck in the back of the net, even if the advanced analytics say they should be scoring more. Both their expected goals for (38.06) and expected goals share (57.29 percent) - according to Moneypuck - are top-four marks in the league, but they simply cannot finish their chances.

Rangers' Home Struggles Reach A New Low In Loss To Islanders Déjà vu is the best word to describe the New York Rangers’ 5-0 home loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday night. 

This is an issue that the Sullivan-era Penguins had for the last several years of Sullivan's tenure in Pittsburgh, and it seems to have carried over to his time with the Rangers so far. The process is there, but the finishing talent simply isn't.

So, what does this mean for the Rangers? Of course, there is still a lot of season left, and the East is a very tight race. Only eight points separate the top of the conference from the bottom of the conference, and the same goes for the Metro. Moneypuck also still has the Rangers at top-eight odds to make the playoffs at 74.7 percent.

But, if they are to turn around their season, their top players in J.T. Miller, Mika Zibanejad, and Alexis LaFreniere need to start producing with more frequency. And only time will tell if the Rangers' issues stem more so from coaching or from personnel or if Sullivan and his team can overcome their early-season struggles. 

Penguins Earn Point In 'Prove-It' Game Against New Jersey DevilsAt this time last season - and in the two seasons before - there was always an overwhelming sense of frustration when the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins">Pittsburgh Penguins</a> lost precious points in overtime and in the shootout.&nbsp;

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At this time last season - and in the two seasons before - there was always an overwhelming sense of frustration when the Pittsburgh Penguins lost precious points in overtime and in the shootout. 

Last season, they managed to reverse a lot of their overtime woes. They appear to play well in overtime this season, too, but the trouble is that they haven't yet finished a game in OT, which has led to three shootout losses - an area in which the Penguins have lost 10 out of their last 11.

But, even after yet another shootout loss - this time a 2-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils, the top team in the East - it doesn't quite feel like a loss.  There is a new air around this Penguins' team, and they largely passed the test against one of the league's best teams on Saturday. 

After the Devils came out strong in the first five minutes of play, the Penguins slowly began a takeover. They controlled play and possession for pretty much the entire final 15 minutes of play in the opening frame. 

Unfortunately, a costly defensive zone turnover by defenseman Kris Letang led directly to an Arseny Gritsyuk goal. Letang had the puck near the left circle, and Gritsyuk was behind him. Instead of simply putting the puck up the wall, he tried a no-look backhand pass right into the slot, which Gritsyuk intercepted and took straight to the goal, beating Silovs.

And that is where it became pretty clear that the Penguins are simply a different team than in years past. We've seen egregious defensive zone turnovers from the Penguins before - especially from their core players - essentially deflate the team for the rest of the game and lead to disaster.

But that's not what happened in this one. The Penguins responded with yet another dominant period, spending most of the period hemming New Jersey in their own zone and generating scoring chances. They had all kinds of Grade-A looks, but they were rewarded with one of the most fluky goals of the season so far. 

Defenseman Ryan Graves - recalled from the AHL prior to Thursday's 5-3 win against the Washington Capitals - simply threw a puck toward the net from the left point. The puck hit off of what appeared to be Devils' forward Ondrej Palat's face on the way in - he was okay after the shot - and went in the net to tie the game at 1-1. 

The Devils pushed back a bit in the third, and the period was a bit more even and back-and-forth. The game went to OT - a thrilling one, at that - before Silovs could not stop either Paul Cotter or Jesper Bratt in the shootout and neither Bryan Rust or Sidney Crosby could score. 

Of course, the Penguins don't want to keep surrendering points in shootouts. But all three of their shootout losses this season haven't exactly felt like games where they're giving points away. Instead, they feel like points well-earned - even if they could have gotten the two points.

Here are a few takeaways from this one:

- He did not register a point in this one. But Erik Karlsson was outright brilliant in this game. And, as good as he's looked this season as a Penguin, this is one of the best games he's played in the uniform. 

His skating was on another level. He transitioned into the offensive zone with blazing footspeed on more than one occasion, and he was also able to bring himself back into the play on the backcheck when he needed to. He was outstanding defensively in the overtime period, and he made an excellent defensive stick play on the backcheck when the Devils were developing a two-on-one before stymying the play altogether. 

This coaching staff is getting the most out of Karlsson, and I think it goes back to some things both he and Ryan Shea said to me a few weeks back about mutual trust between players and coaches coming as a result of communication and understanding what the other needs. Karlsson also made some interesting comments to The Athletic's Josh Yohe in the postgame, which - in a way - indicted the old coaching guard.

It's not an exaggeration to say that Karlsson - aside from Crosby - is the most important player on this team. It's not a coincidence that the Penguins are a good team this season and that Karlsson is in Norris Trophy form this season. 

It's remarkable to watch. If he can keep up this level, the Penguins might be going places. 

- Silovs was magnificent in this game. I'm not even going to expend the energy discussing how much he struggles in shootouts, as he is now just one of eight on shootout attempts this season. 

I want to focus on how good he was in this game to get the Penguins to the shootout in the first place. Pittsburgh should have put more than one goal on the board with the way they were dominating. But they didn't, and Silovs had to make some tough saves. 

The best of them came in the waning seconds of the middle frame, when Danton Heinen committed a bad turnover in front of his own net in the slot. The puck found its way to Jack Hughes, who sent the puck across the low slot area and over to Bratt. 

And Silovs made what will probably be one of the best NHL saves of the year.

He is a legitimate problem in shootouts right now, and it's something the Penguins might have to address at some point. But he was brilliant in this game and deserves a lot of credit for the Penguins getting a point out of this one. 

- The Penguins' penalty kill, once again, came through for them in this game. They killed off two penalties - and one of them came in the second part of the third period in a tie game and as a result of Evgeni Malkin delivering an ill-advised cross-check on former Penguin Cody Glass - and made it look relatively easy. 

The power play only got one opportunity in this one and was zipping the puck around on it. That unit remains No. 1, while the penalty kill is up to eighth in the league. 

Todd Nelson (power play) and Mike Stothers (penalty kill) have done wonders for the special teams units, and they are making a world of difference for this team.

- Graves has been perfectly solid since being inserted back into the lineup. He's making simple plays, he's not holding onto the puck too long in the defensive zone, he's controlling his gaps, and he's playing unafraid. 

I think his defensive partner, Connor Clifton, has had some bouts of uneven play, even if he was pretty solid in this one. The Penguins still have some decisions to make regarding their defensive corps and 19-year-old rookie Harrison Brunicke, who played in his ninth NHL game Monday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. 

If Graves keeps this up, I almost want to see how he'd do alongside the dynamic but flawed youngster in Brunicke, assuming he sticks around for the time being. It's only been two games, but I think Graves has - so far - been better than any other blueliner who has occupied that left side on the third pairing so far this season.

- It's abundantly clear that the second line is missing Justin Brazeau. I think Tommy Novak has been perfectly serviceable there, and he's been playing quite a bit better in recent games. But that line - with Malkin and Anthony Mantha as its other cogs - isn't nearly as dominant as it was, and I think their size was a big part of that.

We'll see who finds a home there without Brazeau, but I'm almost inclined to say that Ville Koivunen should get a look. Koivunen has been very good in recent games, but he simply cannot buy a goal. He and Malkin had shown chemsitry in that small sample size last season, and I'd like to see if they can build on that. 

- The Penguins will face the Los Angeles Kings for the second and final time this season Sunday afternoon. It will likely be top goaltending prospect Sergei Murashov's NHL debut. 

The Penguins have had their way with the Kings in recent years, as they have won four out of the last five games against them and have outscored them 17-10 in those games. They also tend to play a tight-checking game in these contests.

Either way, it should be a special afternoon for Penguins' fans and for Murashov, as it is a potential glimpse at the Penguins' future at the position. 

Be there. It should be a good one. 

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LAS VEGAS -- Golden Knights forward William Karlsson did not come out for the second period of Saturday night's game against Anaheim, and was ruled out for the rest of the game.

Karlsson played the first 20 minutes and took his last shift as the first period ended, not appearing to take an injury.

Karlsson was interviewed between periods for the TV broadcast by rinkside reporter Jamie Hersch, and though he did not appear injured, he appeared to be winded. While that's to be expected, considering he just left the ice and had 5:03 of time on ice, the Golden Knights television play-by-play broadcaster Dave Goucher pointed out Karlsson appeared out of breath.

Karlsson assisted on Brett Howden's first-period goal, which gave Vegas an early 1-0 lead before Anaheim tied the game later in the period.

Karlsson has appeared in all 14 games for Vegas, and has six points (4 goals, 2 assists).

Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves was called up from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton before Thursday's win against the Washington Capitals.

The Penguins liked how he started the season in WBS after he was waived following training camp, compiling one goal and seven points in 10 games. He came up in place of Owen Pickering, who was re-assigned to WBS in a corresponding move. The Penguins also recalled forward Danton Heinen and goaltender Sergei Murashov due to injuries. 

Graves had a fine game against the Capitals on Thursday and made a nice keep at the blue line that eventually led to Anthony Mantha's goal that made it 3-0. The Penguins blew that lead in the second period before winning 5-3. 

Graves played his second game of the season with the Penguins on Saturday against the New Jersey Devils and scored the game-tying goal in the second period. He ripped a shot from the point, and it went off Ondrej Palat and in. Yes, he got a lucky bounce, but it was still a big goal since it helped the Penguins get a point before they lost in the shootout. 

GRAVES GOAL ‼️ pic.twitter.com/sfX2rclGqu

— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) November 8, 2025

Graves is the 17th Penguins' player to score a goal this season. He was steady on the third pair, which hasn't been the case during most of his Penguins' tenure. 

The Penguins will try and get back in the win column on Sunday when they host the Los Angeles Kings. 

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NEW YORK (AP) — Bo Horvat scored twice to move into a tie for the NHL lead and the New York Islanders kept the New York Rangers winless on home ice with a 5-0 victory of their biggest rival Saturday night.

Jonathan Drouin and Jean-Gabriel Pageau each added a goal and two assists for the Islanders and Anders Lee also scored.

Ilya Sorokin made 34 saves as the Islanders ended a five-game losing streak to the Rangers and won for the second time in the past 10 meetings with their biggest rival.

Horvat moved into a tie with Sidney Crosby and Cutter Gauthier for the league lead by scoring his 10th and 11th goals this season. Horvat had his third multi-goal game this season by finishing off a 2-on-1 with Emil Heineman with 9:31 left in the first period and scoring a power-play goal late in the second.

Drouin scored with 33 seconds left in the opening period when he finished off a 2-on-1 with Anthony Duclair. Drouin made a backhand pass from near the crease for the Islanders’ third goal when Horvat lifted a shot from the right circle over goalie Igor Shesterkin.

Sorokin posted his second shutout of the season. He entered the game 3-6-2 with a 3.46 goals-against average in 11 career games against the Rangers.

Sorokin posted his second career shutout against the Rangers and started it with an arm save on Artemi Panarin in the opening minute. He also denied Mika Zibanejad on two point-blank chances during a Rangers’ power play shortly before Horvat scored his second goal.

Up next

Islanders: Visit New Jersey on Monday.

Rangers: Host Nashville on Monday.